CRISPR

If you're a Chinese citizen, don't irritate the Chinese government. Otherwise, you'll be subject to "re-education" and then possibly deployed as a pawn of the regime. Apparently, the Chinese scientist who gene edited a baby is now learning this lesson the hard way.

The trees that produce the cocoa beans that serve as the raw material of chocolate suffer from infections. The latest in gene editing technology may be used to produce infection resistant cacao trees, and, in doing so, keep our M&M and Snickers cravings met.

Normally, CRISPR is synonymous with gene editing to correct mistakes in the genome. But this new CRISPR-based tool uses it to detect the presence of a specific DNA or RNA. In doing so, this tool may help millions determine if they have been infected with an infectious disease, such as Zika or a Dengue virus.

The FDA recently decided that simple CRISPR-induced changes in plants did not represent genetic modification. Then why do those officials feel differently about the same CRISPR-induced changes in animals?

CRISPR-Cas9, unlike other methods, can create food products so close to the original that they are not considered genetically-modified organisms. That's because it's not how the process of change is of regulatory concern, but instead, it's the final result. Biosimilar is not genetically modified.

Last year, a paper about CRISPR's potential off-target mutations that called CRISPR's safety into question received a lot of attention. The CRISPR field swiftly became defensive and publicly questioned the research. Turns out that authors of the paper also saw the flaws because they have recently published a "do-over" paper that discounts the original findings.

Wheat is one of our most important crops. Unlike corn and soy, GMO versions are not sold. There are several reasons for that, but one is the complexity of the wheat genome and challenges of altering it. Now, CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing may have created a bigger, better wheat.

Over the last decade, the gene-editing technology CRISPR – Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palidromic Repeats – has nearly become a household word. Now, there's a new publication dedicated to the process. It's a peer-reviewed journal and its inaugural issue just came out.

Human genome editing, like self-driving cars or drone delivery, may become part of our everyday lives faster than we realize it. A panel discussion entitled "The Future of Gene Editing" brought together four experts to tackle the challenges, as they apply to humans, from different approaches and perspectives.

The controversy over GMOs lives on, despite the scientific community's best efforts to quell the scaremongering. In order to gather the public's concerns, the FDA is requesting comments on the topic of genome editing, in the production of plants that would be eaten by both humans and animals.

Some scientific discoveries, like human genome editing, challenge our thinking on many levels. And there are many voices getting into the mix of the debate on this subject, taking on the unenviable task of "playing God."

We are funded mostly by readers like you. Please consider donating!

"Big Fears Little Risks" is a documentary, but unlike most of what you see on places like Netflix, it is pro-science, and not scaremongering trace chemicals, food, or the modern world. We instead are going to take back the discourse from trial lawyers and the trade groups they use to profit from fear.

The American Council on Science and Health is a research and education organization operating under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are fully tax-deductible. ACSH does not accept government grants or contracts, nor do we have an endowment. We raise our funds each year primarily from individuals and foundations.